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Patching a VM?

I'm creating a virtual network, two machines, a client and a server, so i can work on administering a network, and later, attacking a network. I'm on the administration side right now, I am installing the Client, (XP Home Sp3, I know I should have used pro) question is, should I worry about patching the client, or the server for that matter?

Not enough information to answer your question. However, as someone who works with VMware a great deal, I will give you this advice.

The easiest way to think about a VM is not as some "special" machine. But, rather think of it as a real physical box. Then, think to yourself: "If this was a real physical box, what would I do with it?"

Thus, if you had 2 machines in your network that you were considering patching, then I would patch them. If the network was isolated and for testing purposes, then I might not patch them.

Okay, that makes sense. At this point I haven't decided yet the use of the boxes, I just know I want the server to function as an DHCP server and a Domain controller, to get a feel for the duties of a network admin.

OP I don't know your experience with the pentesting of your own machines. But what I did was I left the client unpatched just to learn on and that sort of thing. The only thing I patched up and put any kind of security on was the server. My reasoning for that was, to give some sort of "realism" to the lab. I didn't want to make things so hard I would get frustrated, and I didn't want to make it too easy I wouldn't learn anything.